Let me begin by saying I don't think I fit into the mold of your typical Latter Day Saint girl. I have a very different relationship with God (AS WE ALL CAN & SHOULD) and that is totally and completely okay!
To be honest, I don't even remember how I decided I wanted a tattoo. All I remember is thinking about it every single day for months until I was finally shaking on the scary table in the scary tattoo parlor with a scary man pushing scary needles into me.
But I have never once regretted the waves I received that day.
The ocean has always been my home. If my life could be summed up into one (EXTREMELY CHEESY) phrase it would be "you can't stop the wave but you can learn to surf."
There is this blog called Humans of New York and it's basically interviews of people who are in New York and one day I read a post and it stuck with me forever.
"If you could give one piece of advice to a large group of people, what would it be?"
"When a wave comes, go deep.""I think I'm going to need an explanation for that one."
"There's three things you can do when life sends a wave at you. You can run from it, but then it's going to catch up and knock you down. You can also fall back on your ego and try to stand your ground, but then it's still going to clobber you. Or you can use it as an opportunity to go deep, and transform yourself to match the circumstances. And that's how you get through the wave."
The longer I have this tattoo, the more meaning it accumulates, the more I realize I need it's constant reminder, and the more I am thankful to have a Heavenly Father who speaks to me in such personal ways.
On April 30th of this year. I was about to get in the shower after a VERY long and stressful week of confusion and pain (both physical and mental) when I saw the waves in the mirror and had this overwhelming feeling that told me to "FEAR NOT." There is a story in Mathew 14: 27-31 where Peter is crossing the water unto Christ. Even though Christ told him from the beginning "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid" Peter still gets all scared of the "boisterous winds" around him, takes his eyes off of Christ, and begins to sink. IMMEDIATELY Jesus stretches forth his hand to catch him. In that moment as I sat vulnerably naked in my bathroom I felt the lords hand reach out and grab me IMMEDIATELY as I began to look around me at the overwhelming sea. We all have these moments where we think we can not cross the ocean placed before us but I have a testimony that God cares more about our growth than he does about our comfort. I know Christ is at the end of every ocean we have to cross. He knows each of us perfectly and individually. There is absolutely no need to fear. We are in good hands. There are times we have to cross an ocean with unwavering faith to come more fully unto Christ but if we start to sink he will IMMEDIATELY reach out his hand to catch us!
(THANK YOU!!!!! for taking the time to read something that means so much to me)
xoxo
love, jaymo
